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Silver Scream

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Features a terrifying collection of horror tales, with works by Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, Tobe Hooper, and Ed Bryant

512 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

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About the author

David J. Schow

197 books144 followers
David J. Schow is an American author of horror novels, short stories, and screenplays, associated with the "splatterpunk" movement of the late '80s and early '90s. Most recently he has moved into the crime genre.

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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
Profile Image for Karl.
3,258 reviews371 followers
Want to read
October 2, 2017
This hardcover is numbered 47 of 500 copies produced and is signed by signed by David J. Schow, F. Paul Wilson, Robert Bloch, Craig Spector, John Skipp, and Edward Bryant. Besides those already listed, include stories by: John M. Ford, Steven R. Boyett, Craig Spector, Jay Sheckley, Chet Williamson, Mick Garris, Douglas E. Winter, John Skipp, Edward Bryant, and Mark Arnold.
Profile Image for Cody | CodysBookshelf.
792 reviews317 followers
September 18, 2020
an anthology i genuinely hate to finish reading, silver scream was produced in ‘88 by dark harvest press and later republished as a mass market paperback and is now, woefully, out of print and hard to score for less than twenty or thirty bucks—still worth that price of admission, though, because this is a horror film marathon you won’t soon forget.

filled to the brim with dark fiction superstars and newbies alike, this anthology—edited by none other than david j. schow, he who coined the term “splatterpunk”—reads like a rock ‘n’ roll show where every act should be the headliner. no “filler” here to speak of: every story gets a 5-star rating from this reader. has that ever happened before? hell fucking no.

is it possible to pick a favorite story, then? how about chet williamson’s “return of the neon fireball”, the bittersweet and horrifying tale of a washed-up loser buying the drive-in of his high school days in a cursed effort at reliving his glory years? this one’s penchant for 1950s americana and its exploration of nostalgia’s dark underbelly make for a gripping little haunt of which stephen king would be jealous, or proud.

and there’s the finale (before schow’s rambling-but-amusing afterword), “pilgrims to the cathedral,” by mark arnold. i’d never never read, or even heard of, this author, but his longish story about the “intersection of two belief systems” features a whole lot of carnage and batshit insanity to rival anything clive barker put to paper. i almost lost my dinner at three young girls playing catch with a dying man’s still-conscious brain. it’s this collection’s most daring entry, its most go-for-broke, and i can understand why it’s the finale.

who could forget john skipp’s “film at eleven”, a dirty little grimy portrait of a battered woman who’s simply given up—this one was inspired by the publicly aired suicide of budd dwyer. or there’s ray garton’s stomach-churning and shocking “sinema”, and joe lansdale’s classic “night they missed the horror show”, and . . .

truth is, i could talk about every story here, because i loved them all that much. best part of the deal is most of these authors were new to me. sure, i’ve collected novels by chet williamson and john skipp and ray garton and f. paul wilson, but i’d never gotten around to reading them—but now i will, and soon. and several of these writers were entirely new to me, meaning i’d never even heard of them, and i’ll seek them out. here’s hoping they wrote other stuff.

this is why i love horror.

”silver scream is a themed book, but that’s the only conventional thing about it. to avoid hitting a single note repeatedly until a good migraine roosts, i tried to broaden so-called cinema horror past obvious haunted theatre stories, to include stuff about grind houses, 3-for-1 flea pits, porn castles, werewolf circuit drive-ins, snuff films, peep shows, fly-by-night video rental shacks, has-been actors, never-was ingenues, tinseltown burnouts, movie cults, immortal stars, film school dorks, media mutants, and even that bastard ‘lil bro, television . . . a wide variety of nightmares all predicated in some fashion on the cinema experience.”

- david j. schow, editor, afterword.
Profile Image for Bandit.
4,946 reviews579 followers
May 4, 2013
I've been waiting to read this book for so long and it totally completely and remarkably lived up to all my expectations. This is a perfect mixture of movies and horror stories, two of my favorite things. With an all star line up featuring a bunch of well known names and some I have never heard of before, this book has so many excellent stories that it's nearly impossible to put down despite the episodic nature of anthology reading. Actually, interestingly enough, the lesser known names fair incredibly well. Couple of the stories I didn't think belonged, but it was such a small part of the whole. I don't know if I appreciate Richard Christian Matheson's work as much as his dad's, he seems to be doing the exact opposite in writing styles, it is certainly interesting, though. Schow, an amazing short story writer himself, doesn't have any of his own in this book, serving exclusively an as editor and a provider of lengthy, entertaining afterword with the most unconventional authors' bios. Awesome book, tons of fun and an absolute must read for any fan of horror on screen, on page and otherwise.
Profile Image for Elmer Foster.
713 reviews5 followers
September 3, 2021
As a horror fan, these names alone prompted me to pick up this anthology. I mean Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Poltergeist/Salem's Lot/ Funhouse director Tobe Hooper for starters, you're kidding right? I'm in. Throw in Clive Barker of Hellraiser and Books of Blood fame! Add a little Masters of Horror, Mick Garris in there, no brainer. Who wouldn't read this?

The selection of stories covers a definitive genre of days gone by (even more so from 2021 than its late 80's printing), whether it be the 50's drive-in, Neon Fireball, or a local cinema from one's childhood hiding a dark secret, or even pleading to early Oprah on the television. Some become a topical take on the vain nature of the business, while others capture the horror within the horror genre, and most include a litany of nearly all of the best horror flicks in existence (if not just for filler or exposition, as what's showing on the three screens at "the Zone" of the Pilgrims at the Cathedral.)

None are connected directly, beyond the covers of this book, but each evokes a moment, or feeling, in time, so that everyone will find something to like here from despair of sacrifice in one's career in "More Sinned Against" to one last heroic suit up in "Night calls the Green Falcon."

Yes, the stories feel dated because they, and their subject matter, are. And that adds to the quality of where the stories take you. Highly recommend this one.

• Introduction (Silver Scream) • essay by Tobe Hooper
• Preflash • short story by John M. Ford
• Cuts • novelette by F. Paul Wilson
• The Movie People • (1969) • short story by Robert Bloch
• Sinema • novelette by Ray Garton
• Son of Celluloid • (1984) • novelette by Clive Barker
• The Answer Tree • novelette by Steven R. Boyett
• Night They Missed the Horror Show • short story by Joe R. Lansdale
• More Sinned Against • (1984) • short story by Karl Edward Wagner
• Return of the Neon Fireball • short story by Chet Williamson
• Night Calls the Green Falcon • novelette by Robert R. McCammon
• Bargain Cinema • non-genre • (1985) • short story by Jay Sheckley
• Lifecast • short story by Craig Spector
• Sirens • short story by Richard Christian Matheson
• Hell • (1987) • short story by Richard Christian Matheson
• A Life in the Cinema • short story by Mick Garris
• Splatter: A Cautionary Tale • (1987) • short story by Douglas E. Winter
• Film at Eleven • short story by John Skipp [as by John M. Skipp]
• The Show Goes On • (1982) • short story by Ramsey Campbell
• The Cutter • short story by Edward Bryant
• Pilgrims to the Cathedral • novelette by Mark Alan Arnold [as by Mark Arnold]
• Endsticks • essay by David J. Schow (the end was a giant gush-fest of complimentary behavior not scary at all)

Thanks for reading.

Profile Image for Peggy.
267 reviews76 followers
August 13, 2007
Silver Scream is a fantastic anthology of horror stories somehow related to movies. It's got most of the 80's big names in horror, but the standout story is Mark Arnold's "Pilgrims To the Cathedral," a bloody homage to pulpy, drive-in horror with a surprisingly tender heart.
Profile Image for T.L..
Author 28 books25 followers
October 19, 2013
One of the best horror anthologies ever - every story is cinematically themed. Authors include: Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, Robert McCammon, F. Paul Wilson, John Skipp, Craig Spector, Mick Garris, Ray Garton, Joe R. Lansdale, Richard Christin Matheson, Chet Williamson, and Douglas E. Winter.
Author 7 books24 followers
April 14, 2021
An exemplary 1980s anthology. Not a bad story in the bunch. Wasn't in love with the first entry but it still engaged me. Lots of variety and mayhem.
Profile Image for Christian Smith.
Author 5 books63 followers
November 11, 2018
I picked up this old (1988) anthology at a used bookstore in St. Louis for $2- which is the best way to make any literary discovery.

It grabbed my eye because it ties in with my current WIP, MIDNIGHT AT THE HEAVEN, which is set in a haunted movie theater. I thought a cinema-themed horror anthology would serve as nice inspiration.

Only a few stories here are actually set in a theater. (The theme is loosely adhered to.) And maybe some of the stories haven't aged that well in 30 years. (No fewer than 3 of them use voodoo dolls as a plot device- must have been a trend back then.) Also sadly typical of old horror anthologies, there is not one story by a woman writer.

My favorites are the ones that delivered on the promise of cinematic terror. Clive Barker's BOOKS OF BLOOD-era "Son of Celluloid" was the only one I've read before. It was one of the chief inspirations for MATH, and remains batshit brilliant. I also liked Robert Bloch's poignant "The Movie People," Ramsey Campbell's dread-full (in the best sense) "The Show Goes On" and Edward Bryant's haunting "The Cutter."

But the real find for me is my new favorite horror story "Pilgrims to the Cathedral" by Mark Arnold. "Sleaze manifested as a quasi-sentient force" when a mega-church arena unwisely takes over a grindhouse drive-in. It's what I call a "feel-good" story.
Profile Image for Ronald.
204 reviews42 followers
June 21, 2013
Lately, my reading interests seem to be fantastical short pieces, whether fiction or even non-fiction.

_Silver Scream_ claims to be an anthology of cinema themed horror stories, yet has two stories I don't think could be called horror. Nevertheless I highly enjoyed them. One of the stories, "The Movie People", by Robert Bloch, is a charming fantasy about a man who has had a long career as a movie extra, and thinks he sees his long lost love appearing in movies she couldn't possible have been in. The other story "Night Calls the Green Falcon" might be gonzo science fiction, and prescient too. In this story, an aging former actor, who might not have all his marbles, becomes a costumed crime fighter. Hollywood should turn this story into a summer movie.

Other stories I liked was the well crafted "Cuts" by F. Paul Wilson and the entertainingly over-the-top "Son of Celluloid" by Clive Barker. The non fiction piece in this book, "Endsticks" by the editor David J. Schow, eschews the dry approach of giving a brief biography of the writers of these stories and instead gives entertaining personal anecdotes.

The other stories ranged, for me, from good to didn't like. Cinema themed fiction can be interesting.
Profile Image for Ryan Sasek.
194 reviews3 followers
April 17, 2021
I have the paperback and Hardcover #44 signed by by every author. This collection is simply fantastic. So many great stories. Highly recommend!
Profile Image for Snood.
89 reviews9 followers
September 10, 2019
It’s annoying to say this about every anthology I read, but Silver Scream was a very mixed bag. Some stories were phenomenal (Night Calls the Green Falcon) while others were simply horrible (Night They Missed the Horror Show). The others lie between those extremes with several starting off very well and then falling apart in the end, frequently also overusing sexual imagery to the point of seeming juvenile. Pilgrims to the Cathedral especially stood out in this regard.

5-star: Night Calls the Green Falcon

4-star: Cuts, The Movie People, Sinema, Son of Celluloid

3-star: More Sinned Against, Return of the Neon Comet, Splatter, The Cutter, Pilgrims to the Cathedral

2-star: Preflash, The Answer Tree, Bargain Cinema, Lifecast, Hell, A Life in the Cinema, Film at Eleven, The Show Goes On

1-star: Night they Missed the Horror Show, Sirens
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2020
Certainly one of the best themed anthologies of all time. Of course, any book that has Son Of Celluloid, The Show Goes On, and The Night They Missed The Horror Show is going to get at least three stars, regardless of the quality of the other stories, but this one has quite a few other good stories. Notes on the stories to come.
Profile Image for Cassandra  Glissadevil.
571 reviews22 followers
January 3, 2020
4.2 stars.
Hit and miss movie theater themed anthology. More hits than misses. Clive Barker's "Son of Celluloid" is a perfect horror short story. Other stories stretch the relationship to the Silver Screen. Truth be told? I'm harsher on horror anthologies then novels because I prefer novels.
Welcome addition to any serious horror collection.
Profile Image for Brian Sammons.
Author 78 books73 followers
May 27, 2012
One of my favorite themed anthologies from back in the day.
Profile Image for ★ Liane ★.
123 reviews
March 4, 2013
I love every story in this book. There's always a twist in the end. A must have!
16 reviews
September 18, 2024
This is a fun horror anthology with some hits and some misses, as in any anthology. Watching various horror authors take on Hollywood, the ultimate horror show, results in some damned good stories.

A lot of these premises take the prompt and take it to really imaginative places. Highlights for me include:
- Robert Bloch's "The Movie People": a melancholic love story about a Hollywood extra who’s been around since the Golden Age of Hollywood, and his long lost love. It has an ending that’s both beautiful and eerie in the questions it raises.
* Clive Barker's "Son of Celluloid": A weird, grotesque story about a dead man's tumor coming to horrifying life in a run-down movie theater. Despite the odd premise, this is a really chilling story and a great, disturbing examination of the power of cinema. And it has a satisfying, darkly comic ending that wraps it up with a bang.
* "The Answer Tree" by Steven R. Boyett: A depraved slow-burn about a snobby film critic who attends the showing of the titular banned and controversial foreign film. Simultaneously a deeply disturbing read and a subtle needling of cinema-goers, both the snooty art house crowd and the brainless ones only out for shallow entertainment and titillation.
* "More Sinned Against" by Karl Edward Wagner: A bleak, gritty revenge tale straight out of Tales From the Crypt about a selfish, predatory actor on the hunt for his big break and a down-on-her-luck actress he exploits to get it. It has some 80s sexism but it's still a damn good read.

There are some stories that didn't work for me. There are others I found mixed bags, such as:

* "Sinema" by Ray Garton: It has a character that unfortunately falls into the gay sexual predator stereotype, but otherwise is a really good and uncomfortable read about religious hypocrisy. The ending will rock you to your core.
* "Night Calls the Green Falcon": It falls at times into clichéd 80s crime fiction, but there's some real, impactful poignance here. The ending is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read.
Profile Image for GaP.
110 reviews2 followers
October 14, 2024
Imagine those fleapit video stores on the Eighties and early Nineties. The ones that stocked all of the off-brand schlockiest, trashiest horror movies. That's what reading this anthology is like. And that's a compliment. In fact, if I knew some starry-eyed dreamer that wanted to move to Hollywood to get in the biz, I have them read MORE SINNED AGAINST or A LIFE IN THE CINEMA. You have a has-been screen super-hero, a film buff Christian youth leader serial killer that has the tables turned on him, and a compressed novella that delivers nothing less than a psychotronic apocalypse at a drive in theatre to close out the anthology. After being out of print for a while, this book is again available for purchase. It was a blast to read and perfect the HALLOWEEN season.
Profile Image for Matt.
Author 5 books12 followers
August 21, 2020
Amazing anthology of splatter royalty taking on the world of film. So many authors in this it's mind boggling that more people are not talking about it. I know it's been out of print, but it was just rereleased and worth hunting down.

The coolest thing is how different the authors interpreted the theme. We get looks at Hollywood, drive-ins, TV news, old serials, and more. Everything is covered, explored, and ripped apart for us to see. There are weird stories, haunting ones, super bloody ones, touching ones, and a lot of commentary about the world.

If you want to read a legendary anthology, one that was probably very instrumental for a ton of writers, then this is what you want.
Profile Image for Linda.
279 reviews9 followers
February 1, 2022
Standard disclaimer for any anthology; some stories are better than others. With one exception, the stories were originally published in the mid to late 80s. In my opinion, they accurately represent 80s horror, and I thoroughly enjoyed this collection.
Profile Image for Walter.
309 reviews7 followers
January 12, 2019
Offers a bit of everything so you might not notice it doesn’t have much of anything.
287 reviews
March 15, 2022
This was a bare-knuckled, no holds barred, hardcore horror anthology. And it was good to me!
11 reviews
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March 1, 2023
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This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Bill.
1,883 reviews131 followers
May 7, 2024
Dang. This was a solid anthology. A little bit of gross, a little bit of wtf, and a whole lot of cinema madness.
Profile Image for Bob Vickers.
36 reviews14 followers
November 4, 2015
This is easily the best anthology I've ever read, and introduced me to the great Joe Lansdale.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews

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